You Say You Want Me
by Pinklion
Summary: Evelyn took in one more kid. Gabriel acts tough, but he doesn't like to be touched and refuses to believe the Mercers want to help him. And no one knows what actually happened in his past houses. The Mercer brothers can't figure him out, but they want to.
1. Chapter 1

"…alright, Gabriel?" Gabriel looked up at the mention of his name but didn't stop playing with the lighter in his hand. On. Off. Flame. No flame. On. Off. Fla-

"Listen to me, Gabriel!" John snapped, his grip on the wheel tightening. "And put that stupid thing away. You don't even smoke." Gabriel snorted but still put the lighter back in his pocket. After flicking it on once more, of course. Gabriel had absolutely zero respect for John. He was a shitty social worker. For Christ's sake, he didn't even know Gabriel smoked. It wasn't as if he made a secret of it or something.

"I'm listening," Gabriel said mildly, knowing he was pissing John off and enjoying it.

"Don't screw this up. Ms. Mercer is the best you're going to get. This is the end of the line for you. If this doesn't work out then you're going to an orphanage until you're eighteen." John kept talking after that but Gabriel stopped listening. There wasn't anything John was saying that Gabriel had heard before. Listen to your new foster parent. Work hard in school. Don't fuck up. Get along with your foster parent's sons. Stay away from gangs.

Wait…

"Sons?" Gabriel asked, finally paying attention to his social worker. John; however, instead of being glad Gabriel was paying attention to him, just became more irritated.

"Yes, Gabriel," he said, "Sons. I told you this already. Ms. Mercer has four boys. But only three are living with her right now. The eldest's moved out. And you need to get along with these kids. That means no fighting with them. And for God's sake, pull up your collar. You want them to see what a klutz you are?" Gabriel scowled but yanked his collar up higher to better cover the bruises on his neck. So he was a klutz, eh? He had a ring of hand shaped bruises around his neck because he was a klutz?

Four boys. Well, shit. Gabriel took out the lighter again and began flicking it on and off. Being a foster kid sucked, Gabriel mused as he watched the flame. He hated it. And he was sick of it. He was sick of having a shitty life because his folks and relatives were all dead. Most foster homes were bad. In Gabriel's experience, all foster parents cared about was either the check or getting a new chew toy. Usually both. And foster siblings… Gabriel didn't have such a great history with them either.

Four boys who already lived in the house. John had said something about them being adopted by that Mercer lady. That meant they would be protective of the woman and territorial about the house. Gabriel banged his head against the headrest. He was so fucked.

"I'm so fucked."

"Watch your language, Gabriel, Ms. Mercer runs a clean house."

"I'm so fucking fucked."

"Gabriel. I'm warning you."

"Terrifying," Gabriel said, his tone flat and emotionless. "What're you gonna do? Put me in a crappy "home"?" Gabriel's voice took on an ugly twist at the word home. "Whatever, man, I don't give a shit." John sighed, he had given up on Gabriel a long time ago. The kid had been nothing but trouble. No matter where he was placed he always managed to bring out the worst in people. That last home for example, John thought, the husband had always been very peaceable. He had never done anything like what he did to Gabriel before. Gabriel must have done something to provoke him. Although, now that John thought about it, maybe the husband had a few assault charges filed against him… John quickly stopped thinking about. No, it was Gabriel's fault. He always brought out the worst in people.

The rest of the car ride was silent, neither passenger willing to say something. Finally, the car pulled into a driveway and stopped. John unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to Gabriel.

"This is your last chan-" The rest of John's sentence was cut off when Gabriel got out of the car and slammed the door. Angry now, John wrenched his door open and jumped out.

"Don't you run away from me!" John yelled. "I just drove you across the entire city _and_ I placed you in this home. Mrs. Mercer is the best you can ask for. The least you can do I show a little respect."

"Shut up!" Gabriel yelled. "You're a liar. You've said that same shit to me a hundred times before! And you don't deserve anything. No, that's wrong," Gabriel planted his hands on the hood of the car and leaned forward, "You deserve to be strung up by your di-"

"GABRIEL!"

"-ck and dropped."

"Don't speak to me like that!"

"GO TO HELL!" And suddenly, Gabriel couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't deal with one more of John's lectures that made everything seem like it was his fault, he couldn't deal with any more hurt and he couldn't deal with a new foster home. He ran. He heard John yelling behind him but he knew that the social worker wouldn't come after him. That would be too much work. So Gabriel just kept running, and running and running.

"Watch it!" Gabriel ran right into another person. Whoever he had run into was both taller and wider than him and Gabriel was sent rebounding off the man onto the ground. He was dazed for a moment but recovered quickly. He had survived worse blows to the head. Gabriel wrenched himself out of the daze and stood up quickly, ready to run again. But whoever he had crashed into had other ideas.

"Careful, kid," the man said, "Don't stand up so fast." The man reached out and grabbed hold of Gabriel, one hand on each arm to steady him. Gabriel ignored his warning and wrenched himself out of the grip. Gabriel wasn't one to sit down and nurse his wounds after he was hurt. No, he stood back up and used the pain as a reward, a tempter, something he got to defeat if he kept going.

"I'm fine." Looking back, Gabriel saw John smirking and walking towards him. Gabriel was about to start running again when he a hand grabbed his shirt collar and jerked it down.

"What the hell?" Gabriel asked, his voice almost a scream. The movement had shocked him; he wasn't expecting he be suddenly choked.

"Is the man you're running from the one who did this?" The man Gabriel had crashed into was alternating from examining the bruises on Gabriel's neck and glaring at John, who was approaching fast.

Gabriel's mind raced. This guy looked pissed. He had nothing to gain by telling the truth and saying no except for annoying questions. But if he said yes… The man would let him go and, by the look on his face, rip into John. That would give him more than enough time to get away.

"Yeah, that's my dad," Gabriel hoped his voice sounded as rushed and scared as he intended it to. "Look, he's really mad right now and I was just gonna lay low for a little while and-" The guy let go of his shirt and began running towards John. Gabriel was shocked. This man was a complete stranger, there wasn't any reason to be that worked up over a kid he didn't know. Maybe he was finally having a bit of luck. Gabriel started running again.

"Fuck!" Gabriel yelled in frustration. Another man had grabbed his arm, keeping him in place.

"Let go!" Gabriel ordered.

"Nice try kid," the man was speaking in a low voice right next to Gabriel's ear, causing Gabriel to freeze. "BOBBY!" The man yelled. "Get back, the kid lied!" The man Gabriel ran into, Bobby, stopped running and turned around. Gabriel couldn't tell what he was feeling from his face, but he knew it wouldn't be good. Gabriel began struggling to get out of the snitch's grip.

"Stop squirming, kid," the man snapped, finding it difficult to keep hold of the teenager.

"Like hell," Gabriel replied, increasing his efforts to get free. Suddenly, there was another hand gripping him, holding his neck.

"You can let go, Angel," Bobby said.

"He's no angel," Gabriel muttered, wincing when fingers dug into his bruises.

"Why'd you lie?" Bobby asked, wasting no time.

"Because I didn't want to tell the truth." Bobby tightened his grip.

"Tell me why you lied." Gabriel _really_ wanted to be struggling to get free but something about Bobby warned him not to. It wouldn't get him anywhere and Gabriel could tell the man was strong. Gabriel muttered his answer.

"Speak up," Bobby ordered, shaking Gabriel by his neck like he was a wayward puppy. Gabriel opened his mouth to do just that when John appeared.

"Thanks for you help," the man huffed, out of breath from his run, "I've got him under control now." Bobby, much to Gabriel's surprise, glared at the social worker.

"Who the fuck are you?," Bobby demanded, shifting his grip from Gabriel's neck to his collar.

"I'm his social worker," John replied, puffing his chest out in an attempt to seem important. "Now let go of the kid, we have somewhere we need to be." But Bobby didn't let go.

"I want to hear the kid's side," he said, turning Gabriel to face him. "Is that true?" Gabriel glared but nodded. The moment this Bobby guy let go… Gabriel knew he was smart enough to make it on the street. He would get some money and catch a bus to somewhere he'd never been before.

"Why were you running?" Gabriel had almost forgotten about Angel. Gabriel twisted around until he was facing him instead of Bobby.

"None of your fucking business, is why," he sneered. Yeah, he was being stupid. Angel was taller and heavier and stronger than him. But it wasn't as if Gabriel was planning on ever seeing them again. Angel frowned and Bobby's grip tightened.

"Listen here, kid," Bobby growled the words and Gabriel's back stiffened at the tone. But he was saved from anything further when John lost his temper.

"Just give me the kid," he snapped, reaching out and grabbing Gabriel's wrist. Gabriel suppressed a flinch. There was way too much touching happening for his comfort. "Gabriel, stop playing games, Ms. Mercer expected us fifteen minutes ago." Bobby let go of Gabriel in surprise but the next words shocked Gabriel enough to keep him from running.

"You're the new kid?" He asked. Angel smirked and held out his hand.

"We're Angel and Bobby," he said, "Angel and Bobby Mercer."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do solemnly swear that I don't own Four Brothers. … Pity, that. I do; however, own Gabriel. So don't touch him.

Gabriel couldn't believe his luck. He didn't care if it was stupid or not, but for now he decided to believe in Lady Luck. And she was one sadistic woman. What were the chances that the two random men he ran into in the street would turn out to be his new foster siblings? And of course he had managed to piss both of them off in less than five minutes.

And Gabriel knew they were angry. Sure, Angel kept chuckling and Bobby was grinning, but Gabriel knew perfectly well chuckles and grins didn't have to be happy things.

Gabriel shifted his backpack on his shoulders as Bobby rummaged through his pockets for his house key. While they were waiting John was whispering last minute commands at him.

"Stand straight, Gabriel," he hissed. "And stop fidgeting. It makes you look guilty." Gabriel scowled but stopped moving. As Bobby was turning the key in the lock Jon placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel knew the reasons behind the gesture. The main reason was to keep Gabriel from running, the second was so that whoever opened the door saw a concerned social worked trying to comfort his charge.

"Ma!" Bobby yelled as he stepped into the house, startling Gabriel.

"Inside voice, Bobby." The confident voice reached Gabriel before he saw who spoke. The woman smiled gently at him, her eyes raking over him and lingering on his neck before coming to rest on his eyes. Gabriel frowned and tugged his collar up. He felt stupid in the dress shirt Jon had forced on him before he stepped in the car.

"Hello, Gabriel."

"Hello, Ms. Mercer." Jon dropped his hand from Gabriel's shoulder and reached out to shake Ms. Mercer's hand. To everyone's surprise, she ignored his outstretched hand and instead held out her own to Gabriel.

"Please, call me Evelyn," she had with a light laugh, "Ms. Mercer makes me feel my age. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I've been looking forward to this all month." Gabriel was confused as he clasped her hand lightly and gave it one quick shake. This was taking the "impress-the-social-worker" routine a little far. Perhaps she was someone who did things in the extreme? Gabriel hoped not.

"Nice to meet you," he said. Ms. Mercer smiled at him and Gabriel took the opportunity to look at her properly. She had short brown hair with a few streaks of silver and light brown eyes. She was wearing grey slacks and a light blue sweater but Gabriel found his eyes drawn to her neck. A small gold cross on a delicate chain was resting against the hollow between her collarbones.

"I'm sorry to be so abrupt, _Evelyn_," Jon said, interrupting Gabriel's analysis and breaking the moment. Gabriel moved his gaze from Ms. Mercer to his shoes. Gabriel didn't fail to notice how Jon had stressed his use of Ms. Mercer's first name. Jon knew that Gabriel wouldn't call Ms. Mercer by her first name, no matter how many times he was told. But exaggerating his own use of Evelyn was as far as he could go when she was standing right there.

"But I have another appointment I'm already late for. Besides, I know Gabriel is in very capable hands." His smile was supposed to be charming, but to Gabriel it came across as more slimy than anything.

"Well," Ms. Mercer replied, "It wouldn't do for your job to keep you waiting. I'll see you at the next checkup." And before Jon could register the dig, Ms. Mercer had backed him out the door and closed it.

"I never liked that man," she said, turning to Gabriel as if confiding something. He just stared at her, extremely conscious of the two men standing behind him. Everyone seemed to be waiting for Gabriel to say something, except he didn't know what they wanted him to say. That he didn't like Jon either?

The silence became awkward as it stretched on. Evelyn was the one who broke it, still smiling.

"Who's ready for lunch?" She asked. Bobby and Angel voiced their approval enthusiastically, walking into what Gabriel assumed was the kitchen. Suddenly he was alone in the hallway with Ms. Mercer.

"How are you, Gabriel?" Gabriel almost jumped, so startled was he by the sincerity of the question. When was the last time someone had asked after his wellbeing without some sort of agenda? He couldn't remember.

"Fine," he murmured, staring at the pictures covering the walls. There had to be at least twenty in the hall, all of them filled with pictures of the same four boys and Ms. Mercer.

"Do you like the pictures?" Gabriel nodded absently, more confused than anything by the pictures. Jon had said that all of Ms. Mercer's sons were adopted, but everyone looked so _happy_ in all the photos. He found himself gravitating towards one that had all the boys in it.

"The one on the left is Bobby, but you already met him." Ms. Mercer seemed determined to have the silence filled. Gabriel knew what she was doing, a few volunteers at the group home had tried it on him. They figured that he wouldn't have time to get nervous or scared if he was listening to them.

"The boy beside him is Jerry. He's at work right now but you'll meet him at dinner. And beside Jerry is Jack. He's seventeen, already a senior. He upstairs right now, you'll see him in a few minutes. And the last one is Angel."

"Ma? Is the kid here yet?" Gabriel turned to see Jack coming down the stairs. He was dressed in dark jeans and a red shirt with some band lettering on it.

"Jack, this is Gabriel."

"Nice to meet you, Ma hasn't stopped talking about you. You're gonna like it here, Gabe."

"Nice to meet you too, Ja." There was a pause and Jack looked confused for only a moment before he started laughing. Gabriel could hear Ms. Mercer chuckling behind him. The sound was rich and warm and Gabriel felt goose bumps appear on his arms under his long sleeves.

"Alright, I can take a hint. Nice to meet you, _Gabriel_." Gabriel forced a smile, he had gotten quite good at them over the years.

"Come set the table, Cracker Jack!" Jack walked past Gabriel, giving him another smile as he went. He waited until he got into the kitchen before yelling at his brother to call him by his "goddamned name!"

"Gabriel?" Gabriel turned to see Ms. Mercer looking at him with a concerned expression. Why was she concerned?

"Are you all right? You zoned out for a minute there." Ah, that's why.

"I'm fine," Gabriel replied, dredging up another smile to back up his claim. She had been worried something was wrong with him. After all, who wants damaged goods?

"Okay." And suddenly the woman was all action, herding him up the stairs and pointing him to a room, telling him to put his knapsack inside and come down for lunch when he was ready.

**Author's note: Yes, I realize this is a very short chapter. But I felt this was the best place to end it. Sorry. However, in an effort to combat this disappointment, the next chapter will practically fly in. I promise. **

**Many sincere thanks to all who reviewed. You're the reason this chapter is here. **


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel found himself alone in a room. His room, Ms. Mercer had said. She had left a few minutes ago and Gabriel was still trying to process that information. His own room. Gabriel couldn't remember having his own room at a foster house before. He had shared rooms, he had slept in closets, he had just not slept. But he'd never had his own room.

Gabriel squashed the feelings thinking about his previous houses brought up almost subconsciously, an action he was well practiced at.

If he strained his ears he could hear noises from downstairs: laughter, cutlery clinking and barked orders. He waited for the noise to dim to signal when they had sat down but it never came. The noise level stayed the same.

Well, Gabriel thought, with three boys at least seventeen a lot of noise was reasonable.

Gabriel stopped listening and looked around the room. A bed was resting against the back wall, placed so that it was the first thing you saw when you opened the door. A desk was standing to his right and a closet was beside it. Gabriel dropped his bag in the space between the bed's headboard and the wall. He winced at the _clink_ he heard. He thought he had wrapped those up properly. Gabriel was torn between retrieving his backpack to check the condition of the contents and going downstairs. The decision was made for him when someone knocked on his door.

Gabriel practically flew to the door in his haste to open it. He could feel his eyes widening when he saw how the man in his doorway completely filled the doorway. Fuck, he hadn't realized how _big_ Angel was. The man was at least a foot taller than him and his biceps bulged even though he wasn't flexing them.

He hadn't noticed Angel's size earlier because he was always concentrated on something else. Running, escaping, escaping, damning Lady Luck…

"You comin' down?" Gabriel nodded automatically, his eyes watching the man's hands.

Angel noticed how Gabriel stiffened when he saw he was at the door and he recognized what Gabriel was doing now from all the kids that had come through his Ma's home. He tried to relax his posture as he had had to do with Jack but Gabriel didn't react. He just kept standing there, his gaze fixed on Angel's hands and his own hand still gripping the door.

Ma had sent Angel up to ask Gabriel if he wanted to come down for lunch and had told him, in no uncertain terms, to be gentle. When Ma had given him that same command when Jack had come to the house he had understood. Jack had been silent and skittish. Flinching at anything that was directed at him, words or actions, Jack had screamed victim. But Gabriel, Gabriele didn't scream anything.

It seemed as if everything about him was under-toned. Subtle, restrained, not quite there.

If he had passed the boy in the street he wouldn't have given him a second glance. The faded and torn jeans and dark green dress shirt were nothing special. His hair was a little longer than common and a deep brown. His eyes, wait, Angel didn't know what colour his eyes were. He hadn't seen them. The kid hadn't looked him in the eye once.

Angel knew better than to push it though, you never knew the reaction you might get from one of Ma's projects when you pushed them. Some were scary, some were sad. Angel thought he knew which one this kid's would be.

"Then come on." The kid raised his head and although Angel would never, ever admit it, he felt his breath catch. Honest-to-god genuinely catch.

The kid's eyes were silver. Not grey, silver.

And that look. Oh, Gabriel was giving Angel such a look. Angel saw what he had suspected Gabriel was feeling: suspicion and mistrust. But he had also expected some sort of fear from what Ma had told them about the kid.

There wasn't any. Instead, Angel saw hate. It wasn't a glaring hate and Angel only saw it because he had been trying to figure out what the kid was thinking. Angel didn't think that the kid would _like_ him after he had stopped his escape, but he would never have thought he had earned such an extreme emotion.

Gabriel knew he was should be going down for lunch, but Angel was blocking the doorway and he couldn't bring himself to take the step that would bring him so much closer to the man.

After a pause Angel stepped back, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck. Gabriel felt his mental-me give a sigh of relief. Gabriel couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth when he thought of mental-me. When mental-me had first shown up Gabriel had thought he had gone crazy. He had resigned himself to a life enclosed in four white walls after Jon's next check-up, sure that he would be able to sense that Gabriel's mind had broken.

But Jon hadn't noticed, and neither had anyone else. Once Gabriel had stopped panicking, he had gone to the library and begun researching. Eventually he decided that mental-me was some sort of late manifestation of an imaginary friend. Gabriel didn't have any friends and his brain thought he should have friends. The result: mental-me. A snarky, over-dramatic and mouthy miniature Gabriel that lived in his head.

Angel smiled back when he saw Gabriel give a tentative smile and started walking down the hall, fairly confident that Gabriel would follow now that the ice had broken.

Gabriel pried his fingers off the door and followed Angel, leaving the door open behind him. Mental-me opened his mouth for the first time since Gabriel stepped into the Mercer house.

_Well, at least we know what to call him. Angel the Alligator. Chomp Chomp. That man's got some big-ass teeth. Maybe he hasn't grown into them yet? _

_**Quiet. **_

Gabriel had reached the kitchen and was hovering in the doorway, unsure of what to do. He didn't know this house's rules yet and he always hated this limbo period. Everyone was already seated at the table and there were two empty seats. One was between Bobby and Jack and the other was beside Evelyn. Gabriel noticed how Angel immediately took the seat between Bobby and Jack, leaving with Ms. Mercer on one side and an empty seat on the other. Mental-me got a glint in his eyes.

_They're trying to be nice. _ The word nice was practically hissed. _They want to plaaayyyy…_

_**Quiet. **_

"Come sit, Gabriel." Ms. Mercer gestured to the seat beside her and the full plate sitting in front of it. Gabriel's stomach did something between a squeeze and a roll. Gabriel crossed the room quickly and slid into the chair. He looked up from the plate in front of him to the Mercers. Bobby and Angel each had a beer in front of them.

_Drinking at lunch, drunk by dinner. _

And as if Bobby had somehow heard, he tapped the bottle in front of him and said: "Non alcoholic." Gabriel decided it would be easier to simply not respond. He turned in gaze to Jack, him being the only brother he knew the least about. Except that he liked to smile and try to shorten people's names. You call someone by what they are introduced. Gabriel was introduced as Gabriel.

Jack was smiling at him again. Okay, so this was weird, everyone was staring at him and no one was eating. What were they all waiting for? After another quick look at Bobby and Ms. Mercer, Gabriel returned his eyes to the plate in front of him. It was full. Completely full.

On the plate was a whole chicken breast, a pile of salad and some smiley fries. Smiley fries. … Why the hell were the potatoes smiling at him?

Apparently Bobby was observant, because he had somehow noticed that Gabriel wasn't just staring at the plate, he was staring at the fries.

"They're Jackie-poo's favourite," he said, throwing a lazy smirk at Jack. Jack scowled.

"You know Ma bought them for you, Bobby," Jack snapped, "Don't try to shove them off on me."

"Whatever makes you feel better, sweetheart." Gabriel kept his eyes on the plate.

"Gabriel, would you like to say grace?" Now that had Gabriel blinking up at Ms. Mercer. Where did that come from? His expression must have relayed what he was thinking because Ms. Mercer's smile faltered for a moment.

"Jon said you were religious…" She let her sentence trail off, leaving it open for him to finish. Gabriel looked back at the table. Of course, Jon said.

"Gabriel?" Ms. Mercer interrupted before mental-me could start on The Many Evils of Jon Calloway. "Are you religious?"

"No."

"Oh," Ms. Mercer seemed disappointed for only a second before her gentle smile was back. "Would you join us in saying grace, then?" Oh no. But of course this had to happen. It appeared that this house was the epitome of Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Religion was one of the few things Gabriel stood firm on against foster families. He would not pray. He would not thank God for anything. He would not step foot in a church. Gabriel tensed his shoulders and neck, bracing himself for anything.

"No." To Gabriel's surprise, nothing came. Not even a silence. Instead, everyone stood and clasped hands, Bobby reaching across the table to grab Ms. Mercer's. Gabriel tuned out the words, not willing to even listen. After a minute everyone sat down again and began eating. Gabriel didn't move.

"You can eat, Gabriel," Ms. Mercer said mildly, speaking calmly and as if it was matter of fact. "You're allowed to eat as much of and whatever you want in this house." Gabriel expected his new foster siblings to stare, or at least stop eating. Nothing happened. They just kept eating and chatting with each other as if everything was normal. Then again, from what Gabriel had heard, for Ms. Mercer to bring random boys into her house was normal.

_Granny Goody. _

When no one spoke to him again Gabriel picked up his fork and started on the salad. There were bits in it, but Gabriel hardly noticed what he was putting into his mouth. He wondered if the salad was dressed.

Gabriel had finished the salad and was eating the last smiling potato when Bobby looked over at him.

"Don't like chicken, kid?" Gabriel didn't see the look Ms. Mercer gave Bobby across the table, but he hadn't raised his eyes beyond the glass of water in front of him.

"I'll eat it," he said, his voice just barely qualifying as a speaking voice. Bobby just made a "hmm" sound. And as soon as Gabriel finished the fry, he picked up the knife and started on the chicken. He stomach felt uncomfortably tight and he was beginning to feel slightly nauseous, but he didn't recognize the feeling they made combined and so thought it couldn't be anything too bad. He regretted that as soon as he swallowed the last piece of chicken.

Gabriel knew where the front door was and bolted to and out it as quickly as he could, skidding to a stop on the front steps. He leaned over the railing and vomited, his stomach throwing back everything he was just swallowed. And when he was done and was leaning, sweaty and pale, over the railing, his only thought was: What happens now?


	4. Chapter 4

The Mercer family was left sitting at the table in shock, staring at Gabriel's over turned chair. Evelyn was the first to recover as the sounds of retching reached the room. She got out of her seat and hurried to the front door, telling her sons to stay seated.

"Gabriel, are you all right?" Evelyn wanted to reach out and wipe Gabriel's sweat-wet hair back from his forehead but knew that the gesture wouldn't be welcomed. It would probably to tolerated, but Gabriel wouldn't want it. "Gabriel?"

Gabriel's body lurched forward, bile and stomach acid burning his throat. He groaned. _No, _he thought caustically, _of course I'm not all right. Can't you see?_

"Ugh."

"Are you finished, sweetheart?" Evelyn couldn't help the endearment; it just seemed so natural.

"I didn't eat anything orange."

"Gabriel?"

"Orange," Gabriel repeated, staring at the bright orange chunks mixed in the vomit. "I didn't eat anything orange." Evelyn looked at the ground.

"Oh."

"Sorry," Gabriel said, "It really was a nice lunch." Gabriel heard Ms. Mercer laugh and wondered if this lady was a little bit crazy.

"Thank you, honey," Ms. Mercer said, her laughter dying down to chuckles, "Do you know why you were sick? Are you allergic to anything? Was there something that you don't usually eat?" Ms. Mercer's tone became even gentler. "Or have you not eaten in a while?" Gabriel hunched over and rested his forehead against the cool metal of the railing.

"Haven't eaten that much in a while," he replied.

"Oh, sweetie." This time Evelyn did reach out and touch Gabriel, laying a hand on his back. Gabriel hissed lightly. He didn't think Ms. Mercer heard it but he wasn't so sure when she pulled her hand away.

Evelyn had heard the sound and knew what it meant. Gabriel was hurting.

"Gabriel," she spoke calmly, her tone even and relaxed, "I need you to tell me if you have any injuries. Anything that hurts."

Gabriel closed his eyes and shook his head. Evelyn knew he was lying but didn't say anything. If he didn't come to her by the end of the night (and she knew that would take a miracle) she would take him aside and explain to him exactly why she needed to see his injuries. She would tell him it was one of the very few things he would be forced to do in his new home and then she would fix him up.

"Okay then, let's get you back inside. Your brothers will be worried." Ms. Mercer waited for him to move away from the railing and held the door open for him.

Gabriel didn't understand what was going on. He threw up the meal she had cooked and let him eat and here she was being all nice and caring. It didn't make sense.

When Gabriel reached the kitchen he saw all the rest of the Mercers had finished eating and were almost done cleaning up. They all looked up when he entered the room with Ms. Mercer walking behind him.

"You all right?" Bobby asked.

"I'm fine," Gabriel replied absently, staring at the clock beside the fridge. It was a genuine cuckoo clock. Little house, swinging pendulums and all. He wondered what colour the bird was.

"Good." Bobby continued putting away the dishes, telling Jack to wipe down the table.

"Bobby, why don't you give Gabriel a tour of the house?" Ms. Mercer practically herded the two boys out of the room. Gabriel was unbalanced by the suddenness of the movement and tripped over his own feet. He was falling backwards and his socked feet were skidding for purchase on the wood floor. But then it felt like someone was trying to pull him arms out of their sockets and he stopped moving.

Bobby had grabbed his wrists and was holding him upright. Gabriel felt all the anger he had felt for Bobby when the man had stopped him from running come rushing back. The oldest Mercer brother just kept assuming he could _touch_. Grip his neck, hold his shirt collar, grab his wrists. Gabriel felt his fingers curl into fists. Then Bobby pulled until he was standing upright again. Mild shock flitted through Gabriel that he hadn't let go and dropped him.

"You need to be more careful, kid," Bobby said as he let go. Bobby didn't know what to make of his Ma's new boy. She had reminded everyone this morning that they had to cautious around Gabriel. From what she had told them Bobby had been expecting another Jack. Ma had said that in all of Gabriel's placements something had gone wrong. She hadn't given them any details, she wouldn't do that to Gabriel, but she had told them enough to form a sketchy picture.

Gabriel had been found on the streets in New York four years ago by a charity organization. They had brought him to the nearest Social Services building and typed his name into different databases. But nothing had come up. Gabriel Rou, according to the American Government, didn't exist. There was no birth certificate, no social security number. Nothing. Social Services had questioned the kid as long as they could but all he would tell them was his name and that he had run away from home. So they made him an American citizen, gave him a passport and some papers and shuffled him off to his first foster home. He had stayed with the Carson's for two years before they gave him back to the system, claiming, "He wasn't a good fit with their family". After that had been a string of different houses, each one bad in its own way. To reinforce the need to go slow, Evelyn had told them that one house had locked him in a closet and told his school he was sick. He stayed in the closet for two weeks.

It had gone on like that for two years, all good families flinching away when they heard of his history so that the only ones who would take him were those who shouldn't have been allowed kids. Then Evelyn had come across Gabriel's file. She had hurried the process as much as possible and here he was. Bobby had heard stories like Gabriel's before, all the Mercers had. They had lived with them; some of them had lived them themselves. Based on that Bobby had thought Gabriel would be someone he would know how to deal with. But he wasn't.

Bobby had expected someone who fit a stereotype. And a lot of Gabriel's behavior did. The hesitance to eat at the table, the dislike of physical contact and the constant avoidance of looking people in the eye, that all fit. But somehow Gabriel didn't fit the stereotype. It was like he overflowed from the mould he was supposed to fit in. He showed all the necessary characteristics, but there was something more that just wasn't supposed to be there.

Part of it could be the mystery surrounding the kid. Aside from the closet incident and one other time when the foster father had been caught in the act no one knew what happened it Gabriel's placements to cause his behavior or his injuries. Gabriel wasn't talking and the abusers most certainly weren't confessing. Gabriel wouldn't tell anyone anything. He wouldn't talk to John (not that Bobby blamed the kid after meeting the man), he wouldn't talk to any other social worker and he wouldn't talk to the therapists. A movement from Gabriel brought Bobby back from his thoughts.

"All right, time for the grand tour." Gabriel followed Bobby silently through the entire house, nodding when Bobby looked at him for a reaction. Finally they were back at the living room. Someone had turned the TV on and the sounds of hockey sounded through the room. Bobby was quick to push Jack's long legs off the couch and sit down.

Gabriel could hear Evelyn moving around in the kitchen and saw that all of the Mercer boys were watching the TV. Apparently they were a hockey house and Gabriel noticed that Bobby was wearing a hockey jersey. Mercer. Number 36.

_ Hockey's a violent sport,_ Mental Me supplied, sending Gabriel's thoughts to less than pleasant territory. And as if on cue, there were shouts from the boys and Bobby stood halfway up from the couch. Gabriel turned around and quietly walked back up the stairs. They said the room was mine, he told himself and Mental Me. That means I can go in there when I want to. Mental Me just raised his mental eyebrow, as if to say, then why do you have to convince yourself?

But Gabriel went into the room and closed the door. For the first time he really had a chance to look around. The furniture was nothing special, but it was nice and looked strong, like it would last in an average teenage boy's room. Gabriel wandered over to the desk and opened the drawers. The top drawer held pens and pencils, a couple of erasers, a highlighter and a set of skinny markers. The second drawer had a stack of lined paper and a few notebooks. The bottom drawer, which was bigger than the first two, was filled with hardcover binders. So the Mercers believed in school. Good, that made one thing easier at least.

There were no books in the self above the desk but on the desk laid a white envelope with Gabriel's name written on the front. Gabriel picked it up cautiously, his mind running through all the bad things an envelope could mean. But he didn't know from experience, he had never received an envelope coming into a new house before. And Gabriel relied heavily on his experiences for guidance. After a few moments of staring at the black ink on the white background, Gabriel opened it.

_Gabriel,_

_ Welcome to our home. Hopefully, in time, you will come to consider it yours. All of us are very happy that you are here and want you to know that no matter what happened in the past, you are safe now._

_ I know people haven't been very kind to you at your previous homes but please believe me when I say nothing will happen here----_

Gabriel didn't finish reading the letter. He closed the card and took out the lighter from his pocket. He turned on the flame and held it up against the corner of the card. Then he watched as the paper slowly burned he turned his hand this way and that so he could watch the words blacken and curl before turning to ash.

You are safe now. Bullshit. He'd be safe once he was sixteen and not before. Gabriel turned world-weary eyes to the closed door. He hated liars.

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A very warm thank you to all my reviewers, this chapter is here because of you.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Disclaimer: Remember the seagulls from "Finding Nemo"? Yeah, not mine.

Author's Note: **Inertia** left a review (others would do well to follow her shining example, hint hint) in which she mentioned that kids in the US leave the foster system at 18. I realized that I made an Author Mistake. I know so much more about these characters and the plot than the readers do, I forgot that you guys wouldn't know what the second last line of the fourth chapter meant. **It's not a mistake. Sixteen is a surprise. ;)**

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"So," Bobby said, breaking the rare silence that had come after the hockey game had finished and the TV had been turned off. "Gabriel." Jack sighed and shifted on the couch.

"He's different." Jack said finally, answering the question Bobby hadn't asked. "He's… kinda like us." Angel nodded. Bobby slouched further down in his seat.

"Fucked up." Then, in an extremely unMichigan Mauler move, he turned to check if his mother had heard him.

"Well, I see why Ma took him in. What're y'all bettin' he'll be adopted before Christmas?" Angel put it, following his brothers' leads and settling into a more comfortable position.

"Almost two months? Maybe." Bobby replied.

"That kid doesn't want to be adopted." Angel and Bobby turned to Jack in surprise. A foster kid that didn't want to be adopted? Impossible. Yes, there was a turning point where you never again _said_ you wanted to be adopted, never admit it to yourself or anyone else. But every kid wanted a family. Bobby had wanted a family. Jack had wanted a family. Angel and Jerry had wanted families.

They had wanted to be able to say at the end of the day that they were going home, not to "the house". They'd wanted a room they were comfortable in, one where there wasn't a knapsack full of the essentials under the bed or in the closet. But most keenly, they'd wanted a mother.

Evelyn had given them all of that and it was unbelievable that Gabriel wouldn't want it too.

"What? Why wouldn't he?" Jack just shrugged and played with the tag on his soda can.

"Why not, Cracker-Jack?" Bobby and Angel knew how hard it was for Jack to talk about his time BE, Before Evelyn. The familiar nickname might help him along. Or it might not, Bobby added in his head as he watched Jack get up and cross the room. The two brothers resigned themselves to not knowing the answer, as they had had to do many times with Jack, when Jack stopped, turned and opened his mouth.

**BANG!**

The three brothers looked at each other for a second before running towards and up the stairs. They met Evelyn on the way up. They already knew that the sound of an explosion had something to do with Gabriel, there wasn't any other option, but the sound of coughing and hacking coming from Gabriel's room confirmed it. Bobby threw the door opened just as Gabriel staggered backwards so that the second Bobby stepped into the room he had an armful of coughing teenager. But he wasn't holding Gabriel for long, the boy pushed himself of Bobby's arms and bent over, still coughing, and cradling his left hand to his chest.

Seeing that nothing was or was about to be on fire Angel breathed a sigh of relief. Bobby had already set enough things on fire in this house for an entire football team of pyromaniacs. Evelyn scanned the room for signs of damage and found a pile of broken and blackened glass by Gabriel's bed. A "thud" brought everyone out of their states of shock and into Mercer Medical Care Mode. The thud had come from Bobby pounding Gabriel on the back, a natural reaction when someone was continuously coughing. But Bobby was strong and Gabriel, however strong he might have been, had the disadvantage of hacking out a lung. The smack sent Gabriel to the ground.

The good news was that the hacking had stopped, but that bad news was that Gabriel was now completely and absolutely silent, clutching his hand to his chest in a death grip.

"Gabriel," Evelyn asked quietly, "Are you all right? What happened?" When Gabriel didn't answer she moved to kneel on the ground beside him. Bobby had moved back to hover near the door with his brothers, recognizing crowding Gabriel wouldn't be a good idea.

_ The fuck was that?! _Mental me screeched. _We've been working with this shit for years. What the hell happened? And what's that noise?_

_** The world is ringing. There aren't any other noises. The world is ringing and it's loud and someone hit me and I don't like it. Make it stop! **_

"Stop," Gabriel whispered. "Stop, I can't hear anything." Evelyn caught a glimpse of Gabriel's hand and looked up at her sons with a worried and determined expression.

"Bobby, get the first aid kit from the bathroom. Angel, get the tweezers from my bathroom. Jerry, get damp washcloth. Quickly, boys."

Slowly other noises seeped into Gabriel's world, bleeding into the ringing and gradually overpowering it until he realized someone was talking to him. Touching him. He yanked his hand back from Evelyn's grip and looked up from the carpet to glare at her. His hand fucking hurt, touching it didn't help. And he didn't need her help.

"Gabriel, I need to look at your hand. I need to get the glass out." Gabriel recognized the way she was speaking to him. Simple, straightforward sentences. Telling him what "needed" to done while still giving him the illusion of choice.

"I'm fine," he replied, his glare not lessening in power.

"Gabriel, I need to look at your hand. Give it to me." So much for the illusion. Gabriel's glare strengthened but he slowly moved his hand away from his chest and brought his legs in front of him so he was no longer kneeling.

The brothers were back with their respective supplies. They deposited them beside Evelyn before leaving the room, Jack closing the door behind them.

"This is going to hurt, Gabriel, and I'm sorry but we need to get the glass out." Gabriel didn't reply and waited for Ms. Mercer to ask what happened. But she didn't, for reasons Gabriel wouldn't have believed if she told him. So the room was silent while Evelyn pulled shards of glass out of Gabriel's palms and fingers. Silent while she wiped the blood off with the washcloth and silent while she applied cream and bandages. And the whole time Gabriel sat staring at the carpet, finding patterns and shapes in the thread.

Mental-me was more vocal.

_ Tell her to go away! Tell her to leave! She said this was our room; make her leave!_

"All finished, Gabriel." Ms. Mercer said softly.

_ Want some cookies and juice, Gabriel? We're not two years old. _Mental-me was scowling, as much as psychic being could scowl.

"Gabriel? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Thank you for helping me." _You irritating women, now go AWAY! _Gabriel's voice was biting and cold and Evelyn found herself shrinking back just a little bit. No one else had used this method on her this effectively. Oh, lots of boy, and a few girls, had tried to pull off I'm-cold-as-ice-back-the-fuck-off but none of them had seemed genuine. Gabriel did. And that was scary. Fifteen-year-old boys were not supposed to be able to pull that attitude off. Evelyn wasn't exactly sure how to deal with it.

Bobby had been fairly simple. He felt the whole world had hurt him and so he hated the entire world. Therefore, it deserved all the hell he gave it. Evelyn had shown him not everyone was out to hurt him and that what he had done was understandable, but not okay. And that he did understand him, and loved him nonetheless.

Angel had just needed a firm hand that didn't smack him around or throw him out. And, of course, a mother's love.

Jerry, Jerry had needed Evelyn, pure and simple. As far as foster kids went, he wasn't too far down on the scale. But he just didn't accept anyone else. No one else had gotten through to him and all of the "good families" hadn't been able to deal with his dark, serious eyes telling him or her they weren't good _enough_.

And Jack, the baby of the family. Evelyn, even with all her years of experience with the foster system still couldn't think about what had happened to Jack before she found him without her chest and throat tightening. No one else had been prepared to give Jack the time, space and love he needed at the same time.

Evelyn had thought she'd been able to get through to Gabriel as well, show him what a family was supposed to be like. But looking at his strange silver eyes and listening to the tone of his voice she began to doubt herself. What if she couldn't help him? What if, after a period of time, he still didn't want to be in her house? Would she be able to keep him there? She knew she wouldn't be able to send him back into the system she had just rescued him from but what would she do?

More importantly, what would Gabriel do?


End file.
